Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren – Review & Blog Tour

Amazon / B&N / Kobo / BAM / iBooks / Google / Amazon UK / Amazon Aus

Description:
Hazel Camille Bradford knows she’s a lot to take—and frankly, most men aren’t up to the challenge. If her army of pets and thrill for the absurd don’t send them running, her lack of filter means she’ll say exactly the wrong thing in a delicate moment. Their loss. She’s a good soul in search of honest fun.

Josh Im has known Hazel since college, where her zany playfulness proved completely incompatible with his mellow restraint. From the first night they met—when she gracelessly threw up on his shoes—to when she sent him an unintelligible email while in a post-surgical haze, Josh has always thought of Hazel more as a spectacle than a peer. But now, ten years later, after a cheating girlfriend has turned his life upside down, going out with Hazel is a breath of fresh air.

Not that Josh and Hazel date. At least, not each other. Because setting each other up on progressively terrible double blind dates means there’s nothing between them…right?

Review:

Hazel declares four personality traits on page 1. They’re both enviable and quirky, bold to be sure, but to be all of those at once?! Powerhouse or powder keg? Josh has gleaned these qualities from afar, their interactions few and far between, but he intuitively steers away from Hazel’s chaos. This assessment was also college-induced. Years later, careers established, unexpected interpersonal connection, Josh and Hazel embark on the friendship of a lifetime. I just discovered Christina Lauren two months ago, Love and Other Words literally rearranged and found a lovely place in my Top 10 reads. Josh & Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating was infectious, full of life, and totally enchanting!

Hazel is an island unto herself. She’s exciting and engaging, honest and immensely thoughtful, a teacher who revels in expanding horizons and broadening meanings. It doesn’t necessarily make her endearing, several men find it exhilarating yet exhausting, and ask her to “turn it down”. But it’s this reappraisal that’s come with a price; a blow to her self-esteem. As a result, Hazel will not engage in reinventing herself to appease others. She is unapologetically unique.

“This is the perfect setup for boy-girl bestship: I’ve already been unbearable near you, which makes it impossible to scare you away.”

While Hazel might have come across as haphazardly zany once upon a time, Josh recognizes her innate goodness, and perhaps his own shortsightedness. Hazel’s insight breathes fresh air into his orderly life and perspective upon Josh’s long-suffering relationship. The dawning attracted the generally inhibited Josh to roam and explore outside the box.

I could go on and on about the growth and development of our MCs, the details, and even finer, more glorious details, of their ever-evolving feelings, but interestingly enough: they don’t want to date each other. Kismet, as its wont to be, decides to intensify their awareness AFTER they decide to be each others’ wing men. Bad dates turned out uneventful for both, hmmm… and “good” dates left them equally uneasy. Big mood. This symbiosis, though hardly surprising to the swooning reader, complicated matters and allowed for speculation of an all-encompassing love and future. Truly, their hearts were so engulfed by the other, they were adorably clueless. Christina Lauren nurtured the friendship to dazzling depths and it only served to deepen their devotion. There’s a fearless beauty in such resolve to appreciate, and wait, for their moment.

Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating reminded me of Jennifer Aniston and Ben Stiller’s characters from the movie, Along Came Polly. Two opposites collide and crash, disrupting each other’s comfort zones, only to transform into a life-affirming force. I loved this book and can assure you will undoubtedly feel its impact as well.

P.S. Christina Lauren, there IS something special about an ice cold PBR! Wish that I could share one with you! 😉

Reviewed by Carmen

Copy provided by Publisher

Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of longtime writing partners Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. They are New York Times, USA Today, and #1 international bestselling authors of the Beautiful and Wild Seasons series, Sublime, The House, Dating You/Hating You and the critically acclaimed Autoboyography. Roomies (released December 2017), has been optioned for film by Jenna Dewan’s company Everheart Productions, with Christina and Lauren set to write the screenplay.